


Seashell in the Sand

by mymhilda



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Beaches, F/M, First Kiss, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Sunsets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27427915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mymhilda/pseuds/mymhilda
Summary: After a long day at the beach, Sylvain and Ingrid decide to take a stroll together.
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Kudos: 14





	Seashell in the Sand

“What a day, huh?” Sylvain says, a bright grin playing at his lips.   
  
Well,  _ that’s _ certainly an understatement. It was their first time at the beach! And oh, what an exciting day it was! In just one day, Ingrid practically became the fishing master of the beach—although she did use the new lance she brought to catch them.   
  
Was that considered cheating? ...Oh well! They tasted delicious, so she doesn’t think anyone could complain.   
  
With all the excitement of the day, doing things she couldn’t possibly do back home...it’s sad to see the first day of their field trip come to an end. Sure, they’d be staying for the weekend, so they had an extra day...but it felt so  _ freeing _ to swim like that, not a care in the world.   
  
Ingrid sighs, “Yes. For once, I didn’t have to spend it cleaning up after your messes.”   
  
As the two of them walk side-by-side on the beach, Ingrid couldn’t help but spare a few glances to the ocean. It shimmered with the pink and oranges of the setting sun; something else she’d have to add to the growing list of things she’d found a new appreciation for on this trip.   
  
“Hey!” Sylvain feigns hurt as he moves his arms back behind his head. A brief pause, and he winks. “I’ll have you know I cut down today, just for you.”   
  
Ingrid rolls her eyes. “Wow. I’m flattered,” she responds sarcastically. “You know, there’s no need to use such flowery words. It’s just me—you should find someone else to appreciate them.”   
  
He frowns. “I meant it, you know. Besides, how could I focus on the other beauties around here when I was watching you the whole day? You were like a totally different person out there. It was fun.”   
  
Thank the  _ goddess _ that the setting sun helped to hide her now-pink cheeks.   
  
“I’d be able to be that person more often if  _ someone _ here didn’t make it a point to flirt with anything with a pulse! Hint, hint.”   
  
The redhead moves his hands out from behind him, playfully feigning surrender. “Alright, alright! I get it! Just for this trip, I’ll cut out all the flirting.”   
  
The knight-to-be quirks a brow. “And when we get back?”   
  
“Well, I can’t stay away forever,” he winks.   
  
She sighs. He’s as hopeless as ever…   
  
Well, whatever. For just this weekend, she’ll try to forget about all that—after all, they’re supposed to be having fun right now. She won’t get too hung up on how insatiable he can be; that’s for future Ingrid to worry about.   
  
...Sorry, future Ingrid.   
  
Despite sensing the incoming headache she’ll have once they return, present Ingrid can’t— _ won’t _ let that spoil her good mood, focusing her gaze ahead.   
  
She listens peacefully to the crunching of the sand beneath her sandals, the gentle sounds of the waves crashing in, and when she spares a glance up at Sylvain...she realizes the sunset highlights his features in  _ just _ the right ways.   
  
Promptly, she turns her gaze away, taking a deep breath. She needed to have days like these more often… Perhaps she’ll ask Mercedes and Annette if they wanted to take a trip to the sauna when they all got back.   
  
Suddenly, something in the distance catches her eye—a conch shell, laying in the sand as if beckoning her over.   
  
“Oh!” Ingrid hurries over to it, bending down and picking it up with a large grin. “Sylvain, look! It’s a conch shell!”   
  
He strides over to her side, examining the shell in her hands. “Aren’t you supposed to hear the ocean through those things?”   
  
The blonde nods excitedly, moving to lean up on her tip-toes and press the shell to his ear. It may have been a trick of the eye, but was he...blushing? No, no. Definitely not. She knows him; he doesn’t get flustered quite so easily.   
  
“Can you hear the ocean?”   
  
“I, uh… I dunno,” he says blankly, gulping as he rather openly stares at her. “We’re right by the ocean, Ing. Not the best place to try this out.”   
  
Ingrid laughs sheepishly. “I suppose you’re right… Should we start to get back now, then?”   
  
...Why was he still staring at her like that? There’s a long pause before he finally responds, almost as if he were in some kind of trance.   
  
“Oh! Uh, y-yeah. The sun should be setting soon. We won’t have the light for much longer.”   
  
“Sylvain?” she asks. “You’re acting weird. Is everything alright?”   
  
His gaze darts down to her lips, then back up to her eyes, and that’s when Ingrid realizes...everything is most certainly  _ not _ alright. What was with him tonight…?   
  
It takes her yet another moment to realize...but she’s acting much the same, letting her arm fall to her side as she found herself getting lost in his eyes. His hand moves up to cup her cheek, and she can’t help but lean into it. It’s warm...   
  
“...Ingrid.”   
  
He leans in, and in the back of her mind, Ingrid knows this should  _ not _ be happening—he’s one of her best friends, one of the people she’s been friends with the longest...and yet she doesn’t fight him. Not even for a moment.   
  
Ingrid’s heart hammers loudly against her chest as her green eyes flutter shut, gulping as she tries to calm herself—to no avail. At this rate, her heart may well beat straight out of her...   
  
And then...his lips press against her own, and her mind needs a moment to catch up before she melts against him. She gives a sigh out through her nose, picking up on the hint of lime at his lips from his drink earlier.   
  
It feels like an eternity passed when he finally does pull away, though it couldn’t have been more than a few moments. Finding herself at a loss for words, she simply stares up at him, letting what they just did sink in.   
  
Sylvain Jose Gautier was one of her best friends. Someone she’d known her whole life—someone who she thought she’d be  _ just _ friends with forever...   
  
...And that selfsame friend just stole her first kiss, right under the sunset.   
  
“...Sylvain—”   
  
“Hey, you two,” Felix interjects, and boy, does he look annoyed. Were they really out for so long that he had to come search for them?   
  
The pair practically  _ rip _ themselves apart from each other, both of their cheeks an obvious red. “It’s getting late, and you still haven't come back. What’s the hold up?”   
  
“Felix!” Annette shouts in a hushed whisper, “I told you not to interrupt them!”   
  
“W-we’re fine, Annette,” says Ingrid, “we were just about to head back anyway.”   
  
Sylvain nods, grinning just like usual—like nothing happened. He walks over to sling an arm casually over Felix’s shoulder, a teasing tone in his voice as he says, “So just what were you doing bringing  _ Annette _ of all people with you, huh?”   
  
Felix groans, and Sylvain laughs. Somewhere, Ingrid notes how flustered Annette began to get, but she can’t focus on what they were saying one bit. Not with the thoughts of that kiss plaguing her mind.   
  
Glenn never got the chance to kiss her before he passed—she never found anyone else she wanted to kiss, either. But with Sylvain...she couldn’t help but think it felt so  _ right _ . Her heart still flutters recalling the memory; recalling the way his lips felt against her own.   
  
But...why did he do it in the first place? It isn’t as if she was a usual victim of his flirting, though she wasn’t immune, either. Even then, it was always playful; never serious. He never gave so much as a hint that it was serious, either.   
  
But tonight was different. He was slow— _ shy, _ almost, and she can’t help but wonder if he knew that he stole her first kiss.   
  
...Regardless, it seemed her questions would go unanswered for the rest of the trip, and even when they returned back home, too. Everything returned to normal; just like it had always been.   
  
But she does notice one thing strange when they got back. Something she wouldn’t have expected from him in a million years.   
  
...He didn’t flirt with anyone else for  _ weeks _ after the trip.


End file.
